Sued by Midland Funding in San Diego, CA

12 posts in this topic

Hello, everyone! I've been a lurker here for a while, and am happy to be able to post at last. Here is the required information:

1. Who is the named plaintiff in the suit? Midland Funding, LLC

2. What is the name of the law firm handling the suit? (should be listed at the top of the complaint.) Jack H. Pogosian, Alec Weston Hankins, Kristy Gabrielova, Nichol Alan de Guzman, Hyo Jin Julia Jung

3. How much are you being sued for? 2844.87

4. Who is the original creditor? (if not the Plaintiff) Synchrony Bank/CareCredit

5. How do you know you are being sued? (You were served, right?) In-person service

8. What was your correspondence (if any) with the people suing you before you think you were being sued? Standard MCM letters

9. What state and county do you live in? San Diego county, CA

10. When is the last time you paid on this account? (looking to establish if you are outside of the statute of limitations) Never

11. When did you open the account (looking to establish what card agreement may be applicable)? September 2014

12. What is the SOL on the debt? 4 years

13. What is the status of your case? Suit served? Motions filed? You can find this by a) calling the court orlooking it up online (many states have this information posted - when you find the online court site, search by case number or your name). Case Management Conference tomorrow

14. Have you disputed the debt with the credit bureaus (both the original creditor and the collection agency?) No

15. Did you request debt validation before the suit was filed? Note: if you haven't sent a debt validation request before being sued, it likely won't help create FDCPA violations,but disputing after being sued could be usefulto show the court that you dispute the debt ('account stated' vs. 'breach of contract'). No

16. How long do you have to respond to the suit? (This should be in your paperwork).If you don't respond to the lawsuit notice you will lose automatically. In 99% of the cases, they will require you to answer the summons, and each point they are claiming. We need to know what the "charges" are. Please post what they are claiming. Did you receive an interrogatory (questionnaire) regarding the lawsuit? 30 days

17. What evidence did they send with the summons? An affidavit? Statements from the OC? Contract? List anything else they attached as exhibits. Standard issue from what I've read on other threads: Last statement from CareCredit, listing of charged-off accounts with info blacked out, MCM statements, etc.

So I'm finding this interesting. Back after I was served, I initially thought about settling, then stumbled upon this forum. After reading, I decided to push back. I filed my general denial shortly after I was served, and in mid-May I sent Midland a letter requesting arbitration via JAMS (as per my account agreement). I haven't heard a peep from Midland, besides a letter saying the account was placed 'In Dispute' and they don't know why I'm pushing back.

As stated above, tomorrow is my Case Management Conference. In my Case Management Summary, I stated that I wish to have arbitration, so I hope that's taken into account during the CMC. I did make one gaffe, however. Because I had not heard from Midland regarding my letter asking for Arbitration, I filed a MTC Arbitration. Speaking with the juedge's clark yesterday, he told me it will likely be rejected due to no hearing being scheduled. (It's still Pending with the court clerk.)

One thing: Is it typical for Midland to not file a CMS prior to the CMC? They haven't filed a summary yet, and I want to make sure I'm not surprised by anything.

If any more information is needed, please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you all for being here and being so helpful!

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Sometimes the CMSs get overlooked. I dealt with Mifdland in my case and they did not file it until just a few days before the CMC, as did I. I would go ahead and fill it out and either file it before your CMC or take it with you (or both), as a courtesy. In my case the judge never mentioned it, doubt he even noticed.

I'm not sure about the arbitration aspect, whether or not how/when you filed for it was a gaffe or not. If you have a chance to bring it up at the CMC, your judge may be helpful or may not, they're pretty busy these days. Do a search when you can, there are some CA members who have gone that route and may have some useful info in their threads; most of us have fought it straight up, CA laws are good for consumers in these cases.

Hints for your CMC: dress professional (it'll impress your judge), be courteous to all involved as the Midland lawyer will most assuredly be a contract lawyer (rent-a-lawyer) who has no real connection to Midland. Both times I went before the judge he was chummy with the contract lawyers (but not in any way that prejudiced me). CMCs are usually quick, 5-10 minutes; it's not the time to argue your case, the judge just wants to check in with the parties and make sure things are going okay, might ask you how you plan to proceed (settle, fight, etc). Your judge may set your trial date, so know in advance if you have any dates in the upcoming 6 months/year that you cannot attend trial.

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Sometimes the CMSs get overlooked. I dealt with Mifdland in my case and they did not file it until just a few days before the CMC, as did I. I would go ahead and fill it out and either file it before your CMC or take it with you (or both), as a courtesy. In my case the judge never mentioned it, doubt he even noticed.

I'm not sure about the arbitration aspect, whether or not how/when you filed for it was a gaffe or not. If you have a chance to bring it up at the CMC, your judge may be helpful or may not, they're pretty busy these days. Do a search when you can, there are some CA members who have gone that route and may have some useful info in their threads; most of us have fought it straight up, CA laws are good for consumers in these cases.

Hints for your CMC: dress professional (it'll impress your judge), be courteous to all involved as the Midland lawyer will most assuredly be a contract lawyer (rent-a-lawyer) who has no real connection to Midland. Both times I went before the judge he was chummy with the contract lawyers (but not in any way that prejudiced me). CMCs are usually quick, 5-10 minutes; it's not the time to argue your case, the judge just wants to check in with the parties and make sure things are going okay, might ask you how you plan to proceed (settle, fight, etc). Your judge may set your trial date, so know in advance if you have any dates in the upcoming 6 months/year that you cannot attend trial.

I think someone's ears were burning at Midland. I just got word to expect a delivery via overnight UPS from them tomorrow.

As far as tomorrow goes, I'm looking into calling in for my hearing due to my being sick these past few days. But otherwise I will keep your tips in mind (especially if calling in falls through and I have to go down in person in the morning.) Thanks!

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I think someone's ears were burning at Midland. I just got word to expect a delivery via overnight UPS from them tomorrow.

As far as tomorrow goes, I'm looking into calling in for my hearing due to my being sick these past few days. But otherwise I will keep your tips in mind (especially if calling in falls through and I have to go down in person in the morning.) Thanks!

I don't know if calling in for a hearing is allowed/allowed on short notice, be ready for anything. Good luck!

Rule 2.5.8
Telephonic Appearances
In accordance with the provisions of California Rules of Court, rule 3.670(o), the court designates CourtCall, LLC, as the provider that must be used for telephonic court appearances. A party that intends to appear telephonically for a hearing listed in the rule must provide notice as specified in California Rules of Court, rule 3.670(h). The party must also arrange the appearance with CourtCall, including following any notice requirements and payment of fees as required by CourtCall. Information on arranging an appearance and payment of fees may be obtained directly from CourtCall at (888) 882-6878.

The court may deny a request to appear telephonically and require the parties to appear in person pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 3.670(h).

(1)Except as provided in (6), a party choosing to appear by telephone at a hearing, conference, or proceeding, other than on an ex parte application, under this rule must either:

(A)Place the phrase "Telephone Appearance" below the title of the moving, opposing, or reply papers; or

(B)At least two court days before the appearance, notify the court and all other parties of the party's intent to appear by telephone. If the notice is oral, it must be given either in person or by telephone. If the notice is in writing, it must be given by filing a "Notice of Intent to Appear by Telephone" with the court at least two court days before the appearance and by serving the notice by any means authorized by law and reasonably calculated to ensure delivery to the parties at least two court days before the appearance.

When I spoke with the clerk, he even told me people will call in all the time, I just need to be present in some form or other.

ETA: It might just be safer to go down and state these vultures in the eye myself. With my luck, there would be tech issues, or something else precluding a smooth call.

One more amusing thing: I received the CMS from Midland via mail, and they're totally lying about Meet and Confer. I've not spoken with these vultures in any capacity beyond sending the arbitration letter.

When I spoke with the clerk, he even told me people will call in all the time, I just need to be present in some form or other.

ETA: It might just be safer to go down and state these vultures in the eye myself. With my luck, there would be tech issues, or something else precluding a smooth call.

One more amusing thing: I received the CMS from Midland via mail, and they're totally lying about Meet and Confer. I've not spoken with these vultures in any capacity beyond sending the arbitration letter.

Good luck!

As to the bolded, not surprising - you'll find that very little individual attention will be paid to your case. Midland, like others, is a lawsuit factory and when something in case needs attention, they pull it up real quick, rubber stamp whatever they need to then move on to the next file in their stack. They probably have a few hundred active cases up and down the state.

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I just had my CMC. I woke up with no voice, so I set up the call and phoned in. The judge was sympathetic about my being sick, but otherwise no nonsense. She set a trial date, then advised that I speak with her scheduling clerk regarding setting a hearing for the Arbitration request. So I'll go ahead and do that.

ETA: A couple notes, now that I've thought through things...

1. The judge seems extremely no-nonsense, yet fair. I read reviews that said she was 'robotic', but I got the impression she has her rules and regs for her courtroom, and you need to follow them precisely.

2. She seemed a bit annoyed that Midland did not file a CMS, while I did. No sanctions, but you could tell she wasn't happy with that.

ETA: My hearing is set for 3/29 at 11AM.

My pre-trial call is at the end of May, with a couple deadlines prior to that. So I have time to get my ducks in a row.

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First (and most importantly)...Yay! My voice is 100% back. That was an unpleasant experience.

Anyway, back to business...

As I said in my last post, the judge's scheduling clerk gave me a hearing date of 3/29/19 for my Motion to Compel Arbitration against Midland. With that, the previously held in limbo motion I had filed with the court was accepted, and a copy was served to Midland this week. So that's a load off my mind (I seriously thought I would have to refile).

Now that that's settled and I have a few months to plan, what should I look for in preparing for the hearing? What kinds of tricks does Midland attempt to pull, and how should I be ready to fight them? Any other tips/resources to help?